'You put your emotions on paper'

The French impressionist artist Edgar Degas once said "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."

On the afternoon of March 12, the Saratoga Museum held their first "Local Artists on Display" event. The first featured artist was, likely, a familiar face to those who frequent the local United States Post Office. The smiling face of Jessica Lane can often be seen behind the counter at the post office as she helps residents with their mail.

Saturday afternoon, Jessica was not behind the counter and was in front of people as she took time with visitors to discuss her art. 

"We're friends on Facebook and she always posted pictures of things she was doing and I just thought 'Wow, she's a great artist and I would love to have her be one of our people to display up here' and she was, thankfully, the first one that agreed to do it," said Dana Davis, executive director of the Saratoga Museum. "I'm so happy she did because the works she did were just wonderful and most of them were drawn specifically for this event. They really turned out wonderful."

Jessica, who is a graduate of Saratoga High School, has been involved in the arts since she was in middle school. She credits her art teacher, Linda Fisher-Perue, for first igniting that interest.

Since then, Jessica has worked in a variety of mediums. Ask her what her favorite medium is, she replies "What I have at hand."

"In high school, it was acrylic. In college it was also acrylic," said Jessica. "After my divorce I did charcoal and nothing with color."

Many of the pieces on display at the Saratoga Museum are brightly colored, done in watercolor and colored pencil. Despite the colorful compositions, a number of them have their roots in difficult times that Jessica and her family have experienced in the past year. In September 2021, Jessica's brother-in-law passed away. Both Jessica and her older sister, Eva, have tears come to their eyes as they talk about the pieces.

Jessica's show was held on the same day as her sister's birthday.

One piece, brightly colored save for a human-shaped section of white, is titled "Missing You" and shows a woman hugging the blank space. Even without the backstory of loss her family has dealt with, one can see the struggle of loss amid the bright watercolors and colored pencil.

Another eye catching piece, simply titled "Self Portrait" is exactly that.

"I had to do a self-portrait because you're supposed to do that and I ripped up several of them and then I came across a picture with me and my son and I had to make it work," said Jessica.

The piece shows Jessica and her son, William Gaudesi, on the day of his birth. She pinpoints that time as her major shift from creating pieces which were largely black and white to those with eye-catching and vibrant color.

"I was very happy with the turnout. We didn't really keep track of how many people showed up but to me it seemed like about 35 people showed up," said Davis. "For the very first time we did this event, I think it was a great turnout and everybody seemed to have a good time."

This event was the first time Jessica had publicly shown her art on her own. As people made their way into the museum to view her artwork, Jessica admitted to feeling nervous because she felt exposed.

"When I do my other pieces, like the nudes and stuff, I don't feel exposed because it's not somebody being exposed," said Jessica. "Naked and nude are two different things. This is more emotion and ..." 

"Putting our family out there," added Eva.

"Emotions are usually contained inside whereas the body is a body and it's beautiful," finished Jessica.

While she hasn't ever publicly displayed her art in the Valley before, due to her posting on Facebook people have known Jessica is involved in the arts. Often, when people see her pieces, the response is the same.

"I have so many people tell me 'I can't create. I can't do that' and I'm like 'No, you put it down.You put your emotions on a piece of paper and that's what you do and then you go from there'," Jessica said. "Even if you do a stick figure you can still create something beautiful."

Davis has a similar line of thinking and is hoping this first display of art from Jessica will serve as encouragement to others to take part in the museum's "Local Artists on Display".

"Any local artist who wants to have their art displayed here, I would welcome," said Davis. "There are all types of artwork and you don't have to be a professional to be able to express your ideas. I think that should be available to everybody."

By everybody, Davis really means everybody as she is even open to featuring the artwork of children who want to put it on display. From fine arts to crafting, Davis wants to be able to highlight the artistic minds which call Saratoga and the Valley home.

Those interested in featuring their work in "Local Artists on Display" can contact Davis by email at [email protected], or by calling 307-326-5511 or 307-710-3226.

Jessica's artwork will be on display for a month and is available to view during regular museum hours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.